Hi Rick & All,

> I wrapped 50 and did nothing to the other 50 a few years ago without any
> difference, this satisfied me that they can tolerate cold,

I tend to agree with Rick here on this matter to wrap or not. I too have
experimented with wrapping some and not wrapping some of the colonies. I do
put a 1/2" urethane panel board with foil on one side (foil face down) on
top of the inner cover on all the colonies year round. I wrap the colonies
with Reflectix http://www.reflectixinc.com/ , I have a picture of one of the
colonies that are wrapped with this material on the home page of my web site
http://balder.prohosting.com/~starrier/index.htm . I am still experimenting
with this idea to not wrap because every winter is different and I would
hate to conclude that colonies need no wrap but so far I tend to think they
need no wrap but do need top insulation. I could be wrong and will continue
to experiment until I succeed with not wrapping even in one of our -40
degree F. minus winters. This winter I lost 1 out of 6 that was un-wrapped
and lost 2 out of 12 that was wrapped. The colonies that were lost were
colonies that had problems last fall. I tend to think that colonies should
be kept cool in the winter so they do not become active, consuming stores,
and begin brooding up earlier than they normally would if allowed to warm up
in spring when the outside temperature warms them.
   . ..
c(((([
Keith Malone
Chugiak, Alaska USA
Black Caucasian Bee Keeper
[log in to unmask]
http://takeoff.to/alaskahoney
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Norlandbeekeepers/

Check out current weather in my area and 5 day forecast;
http://www.wx.com/myweather.cfm?ZIP=99654

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::